


Clarification

by CatrinaSL



Series: 100 Ways to Say I Love You [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 100 ways to say i love you, Adorable Steve Rogers, Bagels, Bets & Wagers, Bifrost, Comics, Communication, Denial, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Feelings Realization, First Dates, Friends to Lovers, GOING STEADY, Gyros, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Kissing in the Rain, Love Confessions, Movie Night, Nervousness, Pizza, Rain, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Scientist Wrangler Darcy Lewis, Sleepiness, Spy Natasha Romanov, Steve hates microwave popcorn, Suggestive Themes, Tony Being Tony, Umbrellas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-03-27 15:16:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13883559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: Darcy and Steve go from strangers to friends to more... but they stop every step of the way for some clarification.





	1. A Deeper Look

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to ChrissiHR and phoenix_173 for their beta skills!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes an act of kindness for Darcy to realize that Steve is more that just Captain America.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12\. “Take my jacket, it’s cold outside.”

"Take my jacket, it's cold outside."

Until Steve shrugged out of the worn brown leather jacket and placed it over her shoulders as they waited for the quinjet, Darcy hadn't given him a second look.

Well, she'd  _ looked _ plenty, but she hadn't  **looked** .

After that, she started paying attention.

She saw him effortlessly lifting something in the lab for Bruce and Tony.

She saw him stick out his arm to hold the elevator for a stressed out administrative assistant who was loaded down with coffee orders.

She saw him raise his voice at several jerks from legal who had been berating the girl working the checkout counter in the cafeteria.

And that started her wondering: who  _ was _ Steve Rogers? She knew Captain America was more of an idea than a person, and she knew that a person was more than they looked from the outside. So Steve Rogers had to be more than red, white, and blue biceps and a pretty face.

She saw him laughing with Natasha after training.

She saw him enjoying the literal nectar of the gods with Thor.

She saw him joking about his age with Clint.

So when she happened on him, sketching alone in the common room, she decided to ask.

"Who were you?"

He looked up at her, confused. 

"You know, before."

He frowned, thinking. "The same, I think," he replied after a moment. "Only... I can change things now." He glanced up into her eyes with a smile. "People pay more attention to what I have to say now that I can back it up."

"Pre-serum Steve wouldn't have given his jacket to a shivering girl?" she asked.

He smiled and shook his head. "No, I did. She just didn't look twice at me after."

"Then she missed out," she told him. "And so did I."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his brow creasing.

"I mean you're a good person, Steve. Not because you're Captain America; because you're you. Girls back then couldn't see you for you, and I made the same mistake, except that I saw the muscles and the costume and didn't think to look any deeper. And I'm sorry for that. If you hadn't noticed I was cold the other day, I don't think I would have ever made an effort to really see…  _ you _ . So thanks."

He looked surprised, but not displeased. Then he smiled. "You're welcome."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/171831583723/a-deeper-look)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	2. Bagels and Clarification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Darcy meet for some bagels and clarification.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 13\. “Sorry I’m late.”

He jogged up, out of breath. "Sorry I'm late," he said.

"It's bagels," she told him. "Not a date."

"Right," he said immediately. "I just didn't want you to think I was... standing you up, or—"

"Ditching. Ditching me," Darcy corrected. "It's 'standing up' when it's a date; 'ditching' when you blow off a friend."

"Right," Steve repeated. "Either way, I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's cool," she said. "You just skipped the line, is all. If you'd been later, I'd have ordered you a single whole grain bagel with no cream cheese." She grinned at his horrified look, and they ended up ordering several dozen, in all different flavors, with enough cream cheese to smother Brooklyn.

"Can I ask you something?" Steve wanted to know as they set to. He had a smear of schmear on his upper lip, which Darcy declined to mention, because it was hilarious and kind of adorable. "When do you know?"

"Know what?" she asked, wiping her own mouth to make sure she wasn't falling victim to hilariadorable cream cheese face.

"When you're on a date," Steve elaborated, and shoved the rest of his bagel in his mouth.

"Oh," Darcy said, and thought about it. "Sometimes it's hard to tell. Like when you go to a totally platonic movie with your tenth grade science lab partner and he grabs your hand halfway through. Or when you ask your crush to senior prom and he says yes but when he shows to pick you up he asks if you wouldn't mind sharing the limo seat with the girl you were pretty sure was his ex  _ and _ two other girls."

Steve made a face, but it was too full of bagel to form a worded reaction.

"And then there's the whole awkward college phase, when you're not sure if the person you're studying with likes you as much as you like her, and you totally embarrass yourself on your third coffee study date by trying to kiss her. And of course the eventual co-worker you secretly admire but you can't say anything because they have a significant other."

"So," Steve managed to say as he found the other half of the bagel he had just inhaled, "How do you  _ know _ when you're on a date?"

Darcy considered this. "I guess the best way to know is if the other person gets the guts to say something like 'this is a romantic date, so don't be freaked out if I try to put my arm around you later.'"

"What if  _ you _ say it?"

"If you're the one with the guts," Darcy said with a nod.

Steve frowned. "But then the other person reacts like you, with your tenth grade lab partner?"

"Then you screwed up," she informed him sagely.

"The point of my question was really how to know when not to do that," he confessed.

"Oh," Darcy said, and grabbed the Asiago cheese bagel so Steve wouldn't eat it before she had a chance. "Communication is key. I guess my advice would be to make sure the person knows you like them early enough so that if they turn you down or the romantic relationship doesn't work out, you can still be friends."

"What if you don't know you like them until you know them well enough to be able to like them that way?"

"Then, uh..." Darcy puzzled over this. Steve asked hard questions. "Then I guess you're already friends at that point, and if you're the kind of person who's into romantic relationships and one happens, then bonus."

Steve put another half of a bagel in his mouth and nodded, considering her words.

"I mean, if nothing else, awkwardly asking if you're on a date would clear things up, but might not net you enough smooth points for a second date."

"I was kind of worried, actually," Steve admitted through his bagel.

"About what?"

"That this was a date," he said, helping himself to another and smearing it with more cream cheese. Darcy scoffed, and Steve nodded. "I'm glad it isn't, though."

"Now, you have to be careful saying that kind of thing," she told him, brandishing a plastic knife covered in cream cheese. "I'm not offended, but somebody else might be."

Steve nodded. "I appreciate that," he said, then focused in on more food. A few minutes later, he confided, "If this was a date I wouldn't be able to eat like this."

Darcy laughed. "I'd love to see your romantic candlelit manners," she said.

"They involve more forks and knives and napkins, and a lot more making sure they won't think I'm a dork."

"I already know you're a dork, so that should take a load off your mind."

Steve smiled. "Thanks, Darcy. For the advice, and the bagels."

She shook her head and smiled back. " _ You _ 're paying next time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/171865680148/bagels-and-clarification)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	3. Comic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy gives Steve a recommendation (and possibly a new career)!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21\. “You might like this.”

"You might like this," Darcy said on Monday, plopping a rather thin but familiarly shaped paperback book on the counter in front of him. "Or you might hate it, who knows. But you should probably check it out either way. Let me know what you think."

"What is it?" Steve asked, as he reached for it.

"A trade paperback," she told him.

Steve frowned. "In my day they called them 'comic books.'"

"We still call them that now," she said, turning toward the coffee maker for some life-giving liquid. "But this isn't just one issue, it's a bunch, and when you bind them up together like that and publish it, it’s a trade paperback." She turned and took a sip of her coffee. "It sounds more professional than 'a pile of comic books.'"

"Okay," Steve said, his eyes warily taking in the cover.

"Spoiler alert:" Darcy warned, then went on without waiting for Steve to stop her, "It's pretty terrible. The artist doesn't know how to properly draw thighs yet, and the writing gets squiffy about four pages in, but I was able to enjoy myself despite that, so maybe you will, too."

Then she shrugged and left the room, as though she was hoping to avoid his politely worded thanks (and the even louder unspoken, "but no thanks").

* * *

"I might have liked this," Steve said on Wednesday, as he plopped the borrowed comic book graphic novel on the counter in front of Darcy. "But I think you can guess why I didn't."

"Was it the completely unnecessary confession of love on page 37?" Darcy guessed, her eyes dancing with glee.

Steve shook his head.

"Was it the hero sacrificing himself to save everyone else when his friends could have easily gotten him out of the entire situation?" she continued.

Steve smiled, but shook his head again.

"Was it the thighs? I could hardly get through it because of the thighs. I had to cover full-body shots and focus on the dialogue, which usually didn't help much."

Finally, Steve laughed.

"No," he said. "You know why."

"It's because the author is 'Stephen Rodgers,' huh? I couldn't get over it, either! Want me to call Tony and he can sic his lawyers on this guy?" Darcy bounced in her seat, her glee undiminished.

He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if she'd planned this whole thing out, if she knew what reading this drivel would force him to. "Actually," he said, "I thought I might do a few of my own. Comic books, I mean."

Darcy gasped in delight. "Are you gonna get into an artists' squabble, like the whole 'blackest paint' feud?"

Steve chuckled and picked up the trade paperback. "I don't think it'll come to that," he said. "I can draw thighs worth a damn. But I could use some help, maybe, with the writing..."

Darcy gasped again. "Oh my god," she said. "I know people. Awesome people. I can hook you up."

Steve smiled. "I was already thinking of someone."

"Who?" Darcy wanted to know.

"You."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/172138763923/comic)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	4. A River in Egypt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Steve are enjoying their platonic friendship when all of a sudden Natasha appears to drop some truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 52\. “Have fun.”

Steve was laughing at something Darcy said when JARVIS interrupted. 

"Pardon me, Captain, but Mr. Stark and Ms. Hill have asked for your presence upstairs. They have acquired information that needs your immediate review."

"Sure, JARVIS, tell 'em I'll be right there," Steve replied, a laugh still in his voice. To Darcy, he said, "Lunch later?"

"Sure!" she agreed. "Have fun!"

Still chuckling, he waved at her and headed toward the elevators.

"Would you let them know I'm down here if they need me, JARVIS?" said a voice from behind Darcy, causing her to jump nearly out of her skin (and to spill coffee on it).

"Of course, Ms. Romanov," JARVIS replied.

"Holy Hide-and-Seek Champions, Batman," Darcy remarked as Natasha walked into the common kitchen. "Where did you come from? Did you rappel down the side of the building? Because Tony said I wasn't allowed to try that anymore."

Natasha helped herself to a blueberry muffin that Darcy had baked earlier that morning. "I was in the living room," she said. "You two were just in your own world and didn't notice me."

Darcy frowned. "The  _ whole _ time?"

Natasha smirked in reply. "So what's up with you two? Any wedding plans yet?"

"' _ Wedding plans _ ?'" Darcy repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Really?" Natasha said, leveling Darcy with an unimpressed look. "You're constantly together. Steve's in a better mood than he has been in decades. And he skipped the last Avengers' Bonding Night."

Darcy raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Don't  _ all _ of you try to get out of those things?"

"Well, yes," Natasha allowed, "but Steve actually had a good excuse: he was trying to make the deadline for a portfolio submission to that comic book publisher you turned him onto a couple of weeks ago."

"Seriously?" Darcy breathed, her eyes lighting up.

"Mmm," Natasha confirmed, nodding. "He's already pretty busy; I just hope he'll be able to balance it all: those deadlines, Avenging, the free time he's been enjoying..." She licked her fingers and tossed the muffin liner into the trash.

Darcy smiled, sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Your point?" 

"I think you should probably admit to yourself how important you feel spending time with Steve is, before he fills it with something that isn't you."

"You think I'm in love with Steve?"

Natasha assessed Darcy, taking in her arms, crossed over her chest, the disrespectful tilt to her spine, and her amused smile.

"What I think doesn't matter," she said finally. "What matters is the truth. And Steve."

"That we can agree on," Darcy sighed, staring at the basket of muffins.

"So," Natasha said. "Try not to hurt him. And if you decide to admit you are in love with him, maybe think about letting him know."

Darcy looked up and opened her mouth to snap back, but Natasha was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/173296038763/a-river-in-egypt)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	5. Pizza and Clarification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy anticipates movie night with Natasha's whispers still in the back of her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 53\. “Sit down, I’ll get it.”

Darcy denied the fact that she'd been watching her phone like a hawk when Jane brought it up earlier that day, and no, the Avengers taking off on a mission before she and Steve's movie night had  _ nothing _ to do with it.

Honest.

But she  _ did _ jump on her phone the second it rang that evening, the stupid faces she and Steve had made in the selfie that served as his contact photo barely visible before she picked up.

"Hey! You guys done with debrief already? I didn't even know you were back!"

"Actually—" Steve's voice was audible even through the noise of quinjet and other Avengers in the background, "We're about to land. I just wanted to give you a heads up. Still waiting for movie night?"

"You know it," she replied. "Want me to order a pizza and I'll meet you in the common area?"

"I was thinking my place," she heard, though Tony's voice shouting at Clint about something halfway through made Darcy doubt that was what he had actually said. "That way if I don't fall asleep during the debrief I'll at least become immovable on my own couch."

"Yeah, okay..." Darcy answered, slowly grasping his meaning. She was a little nervous about spending the evening alone with Steve in his apartment. Did it mean more to him than just protecting his face from Natasha and Tony's sharpie art? "The usual, then?"

"That sounds amazing," he said, the words coming through the line perfectly. "See you in about an hour."

"Okay..." she muttered, but wasn't sure he heard over the ruckus in the quinjet.

Darcy hung up and ordered the pizza to arrive an hour and fifteen minutes later, just in case the debrief ran long.

Then she got off her own couch and went into her closet to decide what to wear.

What followed was frankly embarrassing. 

Darcy held up, deliberated, and dismissed half her closet. Finally, she slumped to the floor after actually considering putting on a slinky dress and wondered:  _ is Natasha  _ right _?! Am I in love with Steve?! _

She sat there for a while longer, more surprised than anything else when she found the idea didn't scare her as much as she thought it would. Sure, he was Captain America, but really, he was just Steve. Just a guy. A nice guy who made her laugh and was fun to be around. A guy who made her think and wonder, made her want to learn more about the world so they could discuss their opinions. The person she most liked to spend time with. Who she missed when he was away. Whose company she _could_ do without, but she didn't _want_ to.

Her text alert went off. Steve.

Finished with debrief

Headed downstairs

Gimme a few minutes to shower

The flutter in her chest when she sent back a  _ k _ confirmed it. 

Her feet were wet. She could see the pyramids.

Darcy sighed and got up off the floor, then grabbed a cleaner chunky sweater than the one she had on. The yoga pants she was wearing would be fine; she'd put them on after work, so it wasn't like they reeked with three days of lounging smell.

She knew Steve was a fast showerer, but she checked her watch so that she'd show up about five minutes before the pizza did. She knocked on his door and heard an exhausted, "It's open. My couch is amazing so I'm not getting up."

"Hey, where am _ I _ supposed to sit?" Darcy asked as she let herself in. Steve had manspread himself across most of the couch, his head tilted onto the back in apparent bliss.

"Get your own couch," he replied sleepily.

"I see how it is," Darcy shot back, taking a seat on the coffee table. "You just want me for my pizza-ordering skills. And as soon as that gets here I'll get relegated to the floor."

Steve huffed a laugh in reply and moved a leg, but left his arms across the top of the couch.

"Next you'll be asking me to bring you a beer and get you some napkins and clean up the place when I'm done," she continued, flopping onto the couch next to him and leaning back against his arm like it was no big deal.

"Mnnh," Steve groaned. "Speaking of, I left a roll of paper towels on the kitchen counter..."

"Yeah," Darcy said in her teasing tone. "It's nice to know where we stand."

Steve laughed as she got up and grabbed them. As she set them on the coffee table, there was a knock at the door. Steve sighed and began to heft himself off the couch with another groan.

"No," she said, shoving at his shoulder. "Sit down,  _ I'll _ get it."

"Nnf," Steve protested, "you're just doing that so you can complain more."

"You know me so well!" Darcy laughed.

She was pretty sure Steve was out when she put the pizzas and cheese bread on the coffee table, so she kicked him in the shin and turned on the movie. He roused enough to consume three pieces before he sat back on the couch again.

"This is a good movie," Darcy heard him mumble about half an hour later. "I hope you like it."

"It's like a third of the way in," she told him, a third of the way through her pizza. "You just invited me here to watch a movie alone while I listen to you snore."

"Yeah,” he replied, with a half-awake grin. “Nice to know where we stand.”

Darcy chuckled and rolled her eyes.

Steve slept and woke, and made his way through one and a half of the pizzas and three fourths of the cheese bread before the end of the movie, even though he watched none of it.

Darcy got up to toss the empty boxes and put the leftovers in the fridge as the credits rolled.

"What'd'ja think?" Steve murmured, his head tipped back on the couch.

"Pretty good," she admitted. "Maybe we can talk about it when you're awake."

A smile crawled sleepily across his face. "Thanks," he said.

"My pizza-ordering skills are yours whenever you need them," she assured him.

Steve began to emit a deeper sleeping sound than he had during the movie. Darcy decided it was probably because of the lack of noise.

"Hey, Steve?"

"Mm?"

"When do you know?"

"Know what?" he asked, but it was much quieter than any of his other responses.

Darcy hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was the moment to ask. Steve, in the meantime, succumbed to a horizontal position now that he had the couch to himself.

She considered his sleeping form fondly, then pried the Captain America blanket she'd crocheted him out from under his feet and spread it over him. She shut the lights off and headed for the door, turning to look at his face once more in the light of the hallway.

"When you're in love," she whispered, and shut the door behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/173326210013/pizza-and-clarification)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	6. Three Hundred Dollars Can Buy a Lot of Gyros, Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gives Darcy a compliment and Darcy gives Tony what he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 56\. “It brings out your eyes.”

Steve was in Tony's lab when Darcy dragged Jane's latest "thing" up to see if he could duplicate and mass produce it. Tony stopped talking to Steve mid-sentence to inspect it, and Darcy took a break to catch her breath.

"Want to do dinner later to talk about the movie?" Steve asked her.

She grinned. "Sure you don't need to watch it again to refresh your memory?"

Tony gave a loud, disgusted sigh.

"I'm good," Steve said, as Darcy looked to make sure Tony wasn't frustrated with Jane's thingy. 

He was scowling at the machine, but not in a way that seemed to necessitate vocalizing in that specific way, so she shrugged, turned her attention back to Steve, and pronounced: "You will buy me a gyro."

Steve agreed, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Tony muttered analysis in JARVIS' direction, and Darcy pretended she was cool. Very cool. So cool. Not nervous at all.

"Is that a new scarf?" Steve asked a few minutes later.

Darcy looked down at the fluffy blue cowl she'd tossed on that morning for warmth (and lab monkey distraction-deterrent, as her sweater was sort of low cut). "Oh, yeah, I guess. Natasha gave it to me last week."

Steve smiled. "It brings out your eyes."

Darcy fought down a blush and opened her mouth to thank him, but was interrupted by Tony, who shouted, "Oh, for the love of god and all that is holy, will the two of you just  _ kiss _ already?!"

Darcy's eyes widened and she glanced at Steve to see if Tony had outed her, but he was oblivious. In fact, he was actually checking over his shoulder to see if there was anyone else in the lab that Tony could be yelling at. She got to watch his face as he realized what Tony meant.

He was surprised, embarrassed, and maybe there was a bit of a blush there, too. "No," he began, waving his hands at Tony. "It's not like that; Darcy and I are friends, we're not—she's not interested in me."

Tony snorted. "I thought you were Captain America, not Captain Oblivious," he quipped. "The team's had a betting pool going for months. You passed the date I had money on a week ago." He sounded really annoyed about it, too. "Natasha said she was going to stop cheating after JARVIS caught her riling Darcy up, but I guess not!" He gestured at Darcy’s cowl.

Steve looked in her direction, confused.

"She tried to tell me I was in love with you," Darcy informed him, and glanced down at the scarf. "I'm going to have to look for a double meaning in every gift she gives me from now on, aren't I?"

"She _ is _ a former Russian spy," Tony reminded her.

Steve started in on him. "What right do  _ any _ of you have—" he began angrily.

"Although," Darcy interrupted. "Did you say we're just friends because  _ I'm _ not interested in  _ you _ ?"

"Uh..." Steve answered, seeming a little off balance.

"Does that mean you're interested in me but haven't said anything?"

Tony spread his hands wide, nonverbally shouting about how obvious it was.

"Shut up, Tony," Steve growled.

"Who's got today?" Darcy wanted to know.

"JARVIS?" Tony consulted.

"The next date picked for Captain Rogers and Ms. Lewis to begin their relationship is in three days," the AI answered immediately.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Natasha," he reported.

"Is it one of those 'whoever's closest wins' things?" Darcy asked.

"No. That was Jane's stipulation."

" _ Doctor Foster _ is in on this, too?" Steve complained.

Darcy shot a look to quiet him, and motioned for Tony to continue.

"If you get together on a day no one picked, we give you the pool to have a nice dinner."

Darcy sighed. "Is there a reason you decided to squeal?"

Tony huffed. "It's not like I can win at this point. I just don't want Natasha to."

"Of course," Steve interjected, pushing away from the table and heading in the direction of the elevators. "Because that's the most important thing, here."

Darcy put a hand on his arm to stop him and asked Tony, "How nice a dinner are we talking?"

* * *

By the time they got back to Steve's apartment, he was well and truly angry.

"I can't believe you—" he began, as Darcy shut the door behind her, "—told him we got together the other night after the mission." He paced across the room to the windows and back to the couch. "I'm sorry, Darcy, but I really don't think a three hundred dollar dinner is worth lying to everyone."

"Three hundred dollars can buy a lot of gyros, Steve,” Darcy told him. “And not to be pedantic, but I believe what I told Tony is that 'certain feelings were shared.'"

"But—"

"And that's not a lie."

Steve frowned. "I don't remember anything like that happening," he said.

"Well," Darcy said, then barreled on before she lost her nerve. "Okay. So a week or so ago, Natasha cornered me in the kitchen and was like, 'hey, don't break Steve's heart, and bee tee dubs, you're totally in love with him and stuff,' and I kind of ignored her, but—"

"That definitely sounds like her," Steve muttered, leaning against the back of the couch.

Darcy laughed, but was annoyed at being interrupted. "Were you going to let me finish so we can talk about this, or do you just want to be mad at everyone?" she asked, with a fond but exasperated sigh.

"I think I'll take option B," Steve snapped back.

"Fine," Darcy huffed. "Maybe you don't deserve to hear it when you're awake, then."

She turned on her heel and marched toward the door, but was pulled up short when Steve grabbed her arm.

"Hear what?"

"Communicating was option A," Darcy reminded him.

A smile played at the corner of his mouth. "Can I have both?"

"Not at the same time," she said, her own smile slowly returning.

"Can I still be mad at everyone later?" he asked.

Darcy rolled her eyes and picked up her sentence where she'd left it. "I kind of ignored her, but it was still there in the back of my brain."

"So?"

"So what?"

Steve gave her a look.

"So... oh! I know. So when you were all in denial mode in front of Tony, you never answered my question, and I asked first, so... so?"

He smiled and crossed his arms. "Refresh my memory."

"When you said, 'we're just friends, she's not interested in me,' did you mean, 'we're just friends  _ because _ she's not interested in me'? Meaning, 'I'm definitely interested in her but she's not interested in me and that's okay because she's a strong, independent woman who don't need no man and I'm a decent human being who would never be friends with someone merely with the hope of maybe someday sleeping with them'?"

Steve blinked, slightly baffled.

"Okay, I'll break it down: do you like me, if yes, check this box."

"What box?" he asked, amused.

Darcy managed to keep from laughing by letting out a long sigh. "Is this adorable performance your way of telling me you don't want to be the first to actually say the words?"

"No," Steve replied. "I just—you told Tony before you told me. We could have had a few days of a relationship that only the two of us knew about. Weeks, even. Plus, we could have split the pool with Doctor Foster, or maybe Banner, depending on which of them would have turned easiest."

"Oh, Jane, definitely," Darcy assured him. Then, "And I  _ did _ tell you first. You just weren't listening."

It was Steve's turn to be exasperated. "I listen to everything you say."

Darcy smiled up at him. "Not when you're asleep."

Steve moved closer. "Darcy," he intoned.

She shivered. "Did I ever tell you how much I like it when your voice goes all Captainy?"

He was much closer now. In fact, Darcy noticed that he'd put his arms around her. "Maybe you'd better," he said (and his tone added, 'for the good of the United States of America!').

"I like it when your voice goes all Captainy," she told him. "I like a lot of things about you. I'm not going to say I like everything; that would be a lie, because let's face it: you snore. And also you don't like microwave popcorn. What kind of normal human who was frozen in ice for decades and then got unfrozen and joined up with a group of superheroes sworn to defend the earth doesn't like microwave popcorn?"

"I like you too," he admitted, leaning in. "Even when I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Good," Darcy said, focusing on how close his lips were to hers. "Because somebody should. Even  _ I _ don't know what I'm talking about sometimes. I'm glad it's endearing, at least, because when I was first—"

Steve interrupted her in a way that was highly appropriate to the situation.

And Darcy had no problem with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/173387396828/three-hundred-dollars-can-buy-a-lot-of-gyros)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	7. Asking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve wants to make sure things are official, so he asks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 68\. “You didn’t have to ask.”

Steve was different from any guy Darcy had ever been with before.

Steve did things without having to be asked.

He held doors.

He jumped up to pull out her chair for her.

He offered his jacket when she was cold.

And the day after they won the pool, Steve showed up at the lab with flowers for Darcy.

"I... was... wondering if I could take you out," he admitted, awkwardly fumbling the bouquet into her hands. "This weekend. On a date."

Darcy frowned. "Does this mean we're not getting gyros tonight?" she asked.

"No, I—" Steve blushed and nervously rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "We are, but we made those plans before we were... official. This is... a date."

She smiled up at him, then went up on her toes to kiss his ridiculous chin. "Steve," she said, "you didn't have to ask."

"I wanted to," he told her, glancing at the flowers. "Is that a yes?"

Darcy wound her arms around his neck and kissed him. "What do  _ you _ think?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/173704204638/asking)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	8. Adorable Nervousness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is adorably nervous when Darcy shows up for their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 69\. “I bought you a ticket.”

Darcy spotted Steve bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet in front of the theater. She ran up to him and slipped her hand into his.

"Hey," she said. "Sorry I'm late, there was a thing, at the lab, and... you know how it is."

"It's fine," Steve said, and nervously fumbled something out of his pocket. "I got you a ticket." He held up the evidence so she could see.

"Wow, you're really taking this date thing seriously, huh?" she said, smiling as she took the ticket and tugged him toward the front doors. "Come on. Hopefully we'll only have missed a couple of previews by the time we buy enough popcorn to satisfy a super soldier."

"Right," Steve agreed, and followed.

"Are you okay?" Darcy asked, as she helped Steve haul three large buckets of popcorn, two gigantic cokes, and a bag of licorice.

"Sure, I... just, uh... I've never taken a girl to the movies before."

Darcy raised her eyebrow. "Okay, but it's  _ me _ ."

"Yeah," Steve said, as though relieved she understood. "I know."

"So... you know I'm not going to reject you, or refuse to hold hands with you, or think you're more of a dork than I already do, but you're still nervous?"

"Darcy, I—" Steve began. "You're important to me. I'm nervous that I'll do or say something stupid."

"Aw, Steve," Darcy said, giving him a look that said she appreciated the sentiment. "If you do something stupid, I'll tell you. Just like you'd tell me if I was being a jerk. Same rules as when we were just friends. Only with more kissing."

Steve hefted the two popcorns he was carrying. "Really?"

"Really," Darcy assured him. "Communication. It's what makes relationships work."

He took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay then. Movie time. Let's hope there are two seats next to each other in there."

There weren't. Steve ended up having to ask an older couple to move down one "so my girlfriend and I can sit together." Even though it was dark, Darcy could totally tell he was blushing. 

It was adorable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/173736600858/adorable-nervousness)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	9. Cuddling and Clarification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve (and to a lesser extent, Tony) would like some clarification. Darcy's more interested in the... "cuddling."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 88\. “I’ll see you later.”

"So, uh," Steve began, as Darcy snuggled up against him, sweat or no sweat. "Where does this put us? Are we still in 'casually dating' territory?"

"Steve Rogers," she gasped, rolling onto her back to look up at his face. "Are you asking me to go steady?"

Steve blushed, despite the fact that they were in his bed and had been for the past three hours. "I was just... kind of hoping for some..."

"Clarification?" Darcy suggested, dancing her fingers up his side. Steve twitched and grabbed her hand, obviously hoping to actually have the conversation that his ridiculously ticklish tendencies would derail.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, we've been together for a month—"

"A month and a  _ half _ ," Darcy corrected.

Steve grinned. "A month and a half," he conceded, and continued. "And I'm pretty sure we're... but, well, I didn't want to assume."

"I'm in your bed," she reminded him, "and I don't have any plans to leave it. Ever." She paused to consider. "Is that cool?"

Steve smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "Stay as long as you want."

"I mean, I have to work tomorrow, but I'll stay until then," she informed him with a grin. "And if you walk me to the lab before you go off to that meeting with your publisher, you can start telling everyone that I'm your steady girl."

"Deal," Steve said, and kissed her again.

"I feel like we should celebrate," Darcy said, curling up closer to him. "We could cuddle."

"We could," he agreed.

She glanced over at him, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Unless... you have a better idea?"

He did.

* * *

"I'll see you later," Steve told her when the reached the door of Bruce and Jane's lab the next morning. 

Darcy stood on her tiptoes to kiss his chin, which never failed to make him blush.

"Have fun comicking," she whispered, and smacked his ass as he walked away (she hated to see him go, but she  _ loved _ to watch him leave).

"Oh my god," Tony gasped, as soon as Steve was out of earshot. "You boned. You  _ boned _ , didn't you?!"

"Tony," Jane chided with a roll of her eyes.

"We like to do  _ science _ in our lab," Bruce reminded him.

Darcy shot Bruce a grateful look. "No, of course not," she told Tony, her voice sounding as though she was reciting by rote. "Steve is the world's Number One Supervirgin since 1917."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Why don't I believe you?" he asked.

"Is it because I would say literally anything to remind you that despite your beliefs to the contrary, me and Steve's relationship is none of your business?" Darcy suggested.

Tony nodded along. "Sounds legit."

Darcy considered her audience with a grin, but decided that she couldn't resist bragging. "But we  _ are _ going steady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/174405513013/cuddling-and-clarification)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	10. Umbrella Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is an umbrella, and some confessions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 96\. “I brought you an umbrella.”  
> “I love you.”

The Avengers were expecting a thunder god delivery direct from Asgard. Tony, Jane, and Bruce had toiled on a "Bifrost Landing Pad" to put on top of the Tower, and Jane had three fourths of her equipment (even the brand new stuff) out in the torrential rain to monitor the Event.

Three fourths of her equipment meant that Darcy had to be there to help record readings and shout at Jane in case the one thingie went from the yellow bit to the red bit.

Torrential rain meant that they were both drenched.

Jane had thought to put on a raincoat (not that it was doing much), but Darcy was wet through in her jeans and Captain America hoodie.

Natasha squinted out at them from the back of the quinjet where Clint was doing pre-flight checks. Bruce, Darcy knew, was hiding in the lab, to "monitor spatial anomalies" on the one piece of equipment Jane hadn't had Steve lug upstairs. Tony clomped onto the roof with his party dress on, and soon afterward the Captain himself appeared, looked around at the situation, and went back inside.

"What a whiner," came Tony's voice from within the helmet as he helped Jane to some final calibrations.

"Maybe he's afraid he'll melt," Jane said, elbowing Darcy. "He is the sweetest man alive, after all."

"Maybe you can tease me about my boyfriend when we're somewhere warm and dry?" Darcy suggested. "And you, Twinkle Toes. I'd like to see you stand out in this Norse downpour  _ without _ your fancy suit. See if  _ you _ don't want to go back inside."

"I guess you're just the best of us, Darce," Tony snarked back.

"Damn right I am," Darcy agreed, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth but not really improving the situation much.

Then suddenly, the rain stopped hammering down on her head. She blinked and noticed that it was still coming down, just not on her.

"I brought you an umbrella!" Steve shouted over the noise of thunder, holding the shield over his head while he held an umbrella over hers.

"Oh my god, I love you," Darcy replied, reaching out to take it from him. But Steve had a super soldier grip on it. When she turned her confused face at him, she saw him looking at her with that 'Earnest and Emotional Steve' expression.

"I love you too, Darcy," he said, loud enough for the others to hear.

Darcy gaped at him. It wasn't the timing she would have chosen, but it was true, and he'd said it back...

Lightning flashed and thunder crashed as she jumped into his arms.

Vaguely, Darcy could hear Tony taking off to rescue the People of New York from the deadly umbrella after Steve let go of it, and Thor's booming voice, greeting Jane.

But by the time she and Steve paused to take a breath, the roof was deserted, the quinjet was gone, and the sun was shining happily down on them.

"Looks like you missed your bus," Darcy laughed as Steve pushed some of her wet hair off her face.

"There'll be other missions," Steve told her, looking adoringly down into her eyes. "You only get to say I love you for the first time once."

"How about the second time?"

He laughed. "That, too."

"I love you, Steve," Darcy said, wrapping her arms around him.

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "And I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Clarification! If you enjoyed, please check out the other works in the 100 Ways to Say I Love You series!
> 
> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/174822374273/umbrella-confession)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


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